Treasures Fit For The Kings

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And the man buried in Kazanlak with the golden mask was likely at the top of it. The mask is one of the highlights of the collection. Weighing in at 672 g and made of 23.5-carat gold, it has a menacing expression, and its mustache, beard and small locks of hair are rendered in exquisite detail. "There have been other gold masks discovered, but all of them are made of foil-thin gold," Kitov says. "Gold masks with this shape and weight are absolutely unknown." He believes the mask was owned by a Thracian ruler, who, in a ritual that has been described in ancient Greek texts, would drink wine from it at public occasions and then place the mask over his face. "His subjects, or foreign emissaries, would look in awe at the golden face of the divine ruler." The mask, and the way it was placed beside the skeletal remains in the tomb, suggest the Thracians' spirituality may have been as complex as their artistry. "The separation of body parts, the golden mask placed where the face must have been — it all seems like it has been designed to transfer the spirit into immortality," says Fol.

The exhibition also features items from a second tomb Kitov uncovered only 2 km from the first, called Goljamata Kosmatka (literally, the Big Hairy, because the hill over the tomb used to be covered in trees). Instead of the more common large single chamber, this tomb is made up of three rooms at the end of a

	The Thracians believed in resurrection, but the rebirth was as a spirit. They believed the spirit has the same needs as the body. That's why they put so many things inside [the tombs]. — GEORGI KITOV, archaeologist

13-m-long corridor. When Kitov broke through the stone walls covering the entrances, he found the first room contained the remains of a sacrificed horse. The grave itself is in the third chamber, carved out of a single block of limestone weighing more than 60 tons. Inside was a ritual deathbed, a resting place for the spirit, covered in gold thread. But no bones: the body was most likely burned or buried.

Kitov believes the tomb, which was built around 150 years later than the one that contained the mask, belonged to King Seuthes III, who ruled in the late 4th century B.C. and fought Alexander the Great's predecessors. The first clue was the bronze head he found when he entered the corridor. It had been broken off a statue and hidden in a carved hole, under a pile of stones. The sculpture is eerily lifelike, even down to a small mole on the left cheek. And then there are the name tags: a series of carved dots on the handles of a vial and on a small pitcher are coded messages claiming the items belong to the King. "The Thracians believed in resurrection, but the rebirth was as a spirit, not a body," says Kitov. "They believed that the spirit has the same needs as the body. That's why they would put so many things inside."

Now that the ancient kings no longer need them, Kitov, along with fellow archaeologists and historians, can use those things to learn more about the lives of Bulgaria's ancestors. In the meantime, he and his team are busy planning more excavations. While there is still much mystery surrounding the Thracians, Kitov is determined to keep on digging.